Jeff Molina is ready to move on.
Two years ago, the Missouri native was suspended by the UFC before being slapped with an official three-year suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his role in an illegal betting scheme with former coach James Krause.
Molina found himself in hot water after sportsbooks detected suspicious betting line movement ahead of a November 2022 bout between their Glory MMA & Fitness teammate Darrick Minner and Shayilan Nuerdanbieke. Minner went into the contest with an injured knee and ultimately lost the bout via a first-round TKO.
Minner never disclosed the injury to the NSAC, resulting in a 29-month suspension.
On Monday, Molina revealed that he has officially parted ways with the UFC after the promotion’s chief business officer, Hunter Campbell, indicated that the company would not allow him to compete inside the Octagon again due to the series of events surrounding his suspension.
“I have no bad blood with the UFC,” Molina told Ariel Helwani. “They changed my life. I’m actually forever grateful that I got to fight amongst the best. I was ranked at the time. But with the conversation, they pretty much said, ‘We can’t go forward with you under the circumstances after the hearing, and we wish you the best in your future,’ and if I asked for my release, they’d grant it. So I went ahead and did that” (h/t MMA Junkie).
Considering the UFC’s lengthy history of giving fighters second chances, Molina was a little surprised that the organization opted to let him go.
“I think the UFC was kind of founded on the principle that, hey, if you screw up, you get your punishment,” Molina said. “People have come back from running over a pregnant lady when high on coke. They do terrible stuff. They do their punishment and they come back.
“So I thought my 2.5 years was enough and I’d be able to come back to the UFC. But I get it. I think they are in talks with a new broadcasting deal. I don’t know if they don’t want the attention and whatnot.”
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for ‘El Jefe’ to find a new gig.
While speaking with Helwani, Molina revealed that he had signed a deal with the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
Opening up about his role in the UFC’s first big gambling scandal, Molina admitted that a few weeks before the Minner/Nuerdanbieke fight, the promotion had advised fighters to discontinue betting on bouts. Molina ignored the warnings and continued placing bets as usual.
“Two weeks prior to that event, it was completely fine to do that,” Molina said. “Then, we got an email two weeks prior to the Minner fight, ‘UFC athletes are no longer allowed to wager on fights.’ I made the mistake of saying, ‘Hey, this is an email. How serious are these guys? How serious is this?’ It was a way of me making money on the side.’ It turns out they were very serious. Obviously, what followed and even the betting line going crazy and out of proportion made it look like something fishy, sketchy was going on. That resulted in my suspension.”
Jeff Molina thinks krause got the raw end of the deal
While Minner and Molina have served a majority or all of their NSAC suspensions, Krause remains somewhat of a pariah in the world of MMA. The UFC sent out a company-wide communication that any fighter continuing to train under Krause would be handed their outright release. As a result, Krause’s coaching career was essentially over.
In the time since, Krause has re-emerged on social media, but his role in the investigation is still uncertain.
Considering Krause was no longer a fighter when everything went down, Molina believes the criticism being lobbed at his former coach is a bit unfair.
“I really do think that the MMA community as a whole owes him an apology,” Molina said. “This dude is a f*cking standup guy. I’m forever thankful for all the lessons he ever taught me. I put myself in this position. It’s no one else’s fault. I wagered on fights after the UFC said stop. He could still wager. He was not an active fighter. This dude was a mastermind of the sport.
“I think he would’ve been the first Hall of Famer that’s a coach. Like, legit. Any fighter that’s underneath him would tell you the same. He’s a wizard. It sucks that his legacy got tarnished.”
